“Demons don’t die, “Antonio said. “They go back to Undirheim. They exist there in corporeal bodies, but they can only come here for a short period of time. Permission must be granted by Thrain or else it doesn’t work so well.”

“You said she’d give me a body,” Rar’goth groaned as he followed me to the altar room.

“We brought what you want,” Mae said, motioning to Antonio. “Will he do?”

Antonio looked surprised. “What the fuck?”

“He needs a host,” Mae said. “You seem the most likely candidate. Will you do it?”

Antonio was too fierce to back up in the face of a challenge, but he crossed his arms and took a wide stance as he glared at Mae. “You’re asking me this now? “Antonio said. “Are you crazy? “

“Don’t you want to host a demon?” Rar’goth asked, but he didn’t even wait another second. It was as if he was a man dying of thirst in the desert and Antonio was an oasis. In seconds the body the demon had been possessing disappeared and fell into ash on the ground. A light shot into Antonio. His body lit up in a burst of golden glow.

“Holy fuck,” he said. His hands clutched and then his whole body relaxed as his eyes opened. There was something different about them now. They weren’t ice blue; they were ice blue with shots of gold in them.

“Antonio?” I asked quietly.

Antonio nodded his head.

“Rar’goth, is in you?” Mae asked.

“Yes,” A deep and gravelly voice came from Antonio.

“You have the body,” Mae said. “Now give us the information we’ve been asking for.”

Jane stepped forward, her ethereal body glowing so brightly we could all see it. She reached her hands forward shooting rays of light out of each hand. She plunged them into Antonio’s chest. Reaching forward with her light energy, she clasped onto the demon where he was deep inside of Antonio.

“Who sent you?” It wasn’t a question; it was a demand. Under normal circumstances I didn’t think Rar’goth would have answered, but Jane’s grip on his psyche was strong and punishing. A hideous screech came from Antonio and was mirrored by Jane.

I leapt forward, grabbing Jane, and pulling her arms back from Antonio, separating the two before they could fuse any more.

Jane collapsed in my arms, her head lolling to the side. Bianca came running over. “Jane!” She cried. I lay Jane on the floor, turning to Antonio with my hackles on end and ready to attack any second. The demon was still inside him. I glared at him.

“It’s me,” Antonio said.

“Where is the demon?” I asked. “Where is Rar’goth?”

“Is he gone?” Mae asked.

“I don’t know.” I watched Antonio carefully.

“I can’t feel it,” Antonio said. “Every inch of me feels like me.” His words made my mind tug in the direction of every inch of him, but I shook the thought from my head. He was here under some weird protection thing for Bianca. I needed to stay away.

“Maybe the demon disintegrated?” Mae offered.

“Doesn’t work quite like that,” Branson explained. “There’s no earthly power that can make a demon disintegrate. They can only return to Undirheim or become corporeal. There’s nothing in between. If they aren’t in a human body, they need a host.

We all looked around the room suspiciously at each other. And then slowly all eyes turned to Jane. Her eyes opened wide, a bright turquoise light shining out from inside them.

“It’s a renegade dark Fae,” she intoned before closing her eyes and passing out.

Chapter 18

We moved Jane onto one of the couches in the red room, which seemed to be from what I had heard the recovery center for the Coven. Apparently, the monster that had killed the two young kids had also gotten in a fight with Bianca. She’d been comatose for a couple of days, so this was nothing to worry about.

“Right?” I asked Mae. “This is nothing to worry about? We shouldn’t call the doctor or maybe the medics?”

“She’s in a psychic induced coma with a demon possibly attached to her.” Hilda pointed out. “I’m not sure there is much the medical profession can do for her.”